Whiskey Lullaby
by flashpenguin
Summary: What do you say to a man who is bent on total self-destruction? Can you change his direction? Just my take on how the jail scene between Reese and Fusco should have gone down in "Lethe". Can be read with "Can't Forget You" or as a stand alone. Inspired by the song of the same title. *COMPLETE*


_This story has been in the making for months! Ever since I saw the clip of Fusco and Reese sitting in the jail cell, I imagined what they could talk about. Fusco finally has the "bane of his existence" right where he wants him, so what will he say? Unfortunately, the scene was waaaaaaaay too short (time crunch issues and piss poor writing) to delve into what Fusco would REALLY say to a man bent on total self-destruction. So, here is MY take. Hope you enjoy!_

_I don't own Person of Interest, but I wish I did so I could have had this scene._

_Song prompt: "Whiskey Lullaby" by Allison Krauss and Brad Paisley. (I knew I had the story and song the moment I heard Fusco say the words "whiskey lullaby" in my head.)_

_Dedicated to Nicole, Natasha, Marilyn, Rhonda, and ALL the fabulous women on the Reese & Carter Shippers FB page! You are the best!_

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**Whiskey Lullaby**

"Well, this is another fine mess you got us into, Wonder Boy," Lionel Fusco groused to the disheveled man sitting beside him on the bench in the lonely cell.

John Reese didn't even bother to turn his head and look at the man he had once considered a friend. "Me?" he snorted sarcastically. "Eh." He took a deep breath and tried not to wince. Damn, but Fusco had nailed him good in the ribs.

"Are you saying that I did this?" Lionel replied indignantly. He had taken some of his anger out on the man he considered the bane of his existence, but not all. The cold indifference he was sensing was starting the rage all over again.

"If the shoe fits..." Out of the corner of his eye, Reese glanced at Fusco. There was a huge bruise around his eye – Reese was positive would be a helluva shiner by morning – and a few cuts here and there. But with all the mud it was difficult to tell.

"You ran away and decided to drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle of Jack, and I caused this?" Fusco shook his head in mock denial. "And you call me a loser? I think you need to surrender that cape over to someone who can appreciate it more."

"I never told you to come looking for me. I think I told you to go away."

Lionel's eyes narrowed. "As you may know, I never follow directions easily."

"When do we get out of here?" Reese asked dispassionately.

"Eager to head back to your watering hole and finish drowning yourself?" Lionel snickered.

"And if I am?"

"Then I don't know when they'll let us out. I think the desk sergeant said something about being inundated with paperwork and would get to us soon. Not that you couldn't use the time to sober up."

Reese turned toward Fusco. "So, now you're _my _keeper?"

"If the shoe fits…" Lionel replied dryly.

The seconds ticked by slowly as each man sat and waited – for what, they didn't know – but what had started long ago had finally culminated to this moment. And it wasn't going to pass by quietly.

"You suck."

Startled by the statement, Reese turned his head. "What did you say?"

"You suck. As in: You are a coward," Lionel clarified. "For running away."

"I didn't _run_, Lionel, I left."

"Semantics. You chickened out, is that better? Or how about you pussied out, does that fit you better?" Lionel straightened his back defiantly and waited for the blow he knew was coming. "Just tell me which one fits better, because I could be here all night."

"You're walking a fine line, Lionel," Reese warned under his breath.

Momentarily stupefied, Lionel's eyes widened at the threat. "I'm walking a fine line? I nearly lost my life trying to take down HR and the bastards running it, and in the process, I almost lost my son, and you have the balls to tell me that I'm walking a fine line." He gave a short laugh. "You're fucking nuts, you know that? All those times you played 'hero' finally caught up and knocked your brain loose."

Reese shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay. Why don't we finish this?" Lionel stood up. Unconsciously he balled his fists in preparation. "You and me. Right here. You won't have the cover of darkness to hide behind and catch me off guard."

Reese nodded toward the desk on the other side. "I think they may have something to say about it."

"I'll tell them I was trying to detain you when you slipped and fell and busted your ass." Reese raised an eyebrow. "I'm a great liar, remember? That's why you chose me."

"You've become a pain in my ass," Reese muttered.

"Welcome to my world. You know, you could make all of this easier by coming back home."

Reese closed his eyes and shook his head. A small smile full of irony teased his lips. "I don't have a home."

"The hell you don't. What do you call that fancy place you live in? Or the people who care about you?"

"It's time to move on, Lionel. Life goes on. People move on. That's the way it goes."

"Your definition of moving on is straight from Manhattan and into a bottle? Let me tell you something, it's a tight fit. Trust me, the air is better out here." Fusco readjusted his stance. "So, come on," he egged with bravado. "Let's get this over with."

"I'm not going to fight you, Lionel. I kicked your ass once, and that's that."

Lionel's face reddened with anger that finally hit the boiling point. "No, that is NOT it, you sorry sack! You think that Carter would appreciate the way you've thrown everything away since she died? What do you think she would say if she was here with you right now?"

"It doesn't matter," Reese murmured.

"She'd pop a cap in that ass of yours, that's what! After all she did for you, and this is how you treat her."

"Stop."

Undeterred, Lionel continued with his rant, "You want to drown yourself in some godforsaken whiskey lullaby? Go for it. But know this: She laid her job – _and_ her life – on the line more times than I can count – hell more times than you or I deserved – to help you and our mutual friends out of situations that would have had normal people doing 20 to life."

"Stop," Reese repeated, this time his voice was lower. Flexing his fingers against his thighs, he tried to remember to breathe.

"She should have arrested you. She should have thrown your ass in prison to wallow with all the other low lifes. But no, she saw something in you – just like you saw in me – and she gave you that chance. She saved your life that night, you know?" Fusco paced the cell like a caged animal bent on insanity or freedom.

Reese remained silent. He didn't want to think about that night when his world went to hell. He tried not to think about the way Joss struggled for breath in his arms or the way her big brown eyes looked deep into his before she… He shook his head. God, he needed a drink!

"Her shot to Simmons' shoulder blew apart his rotar cuff. That is why he couldn't shoot you again. She nailed him with a direct shot, you asshole! You would be dead if not for her! You owe her!" He poked his finger in Reese's chest.

"I don't owe anyone."

"I get it, you want to play martyr and suffer because you think you're the only person to ever have your heart broken, right? You're the only person who's lost someone important, right?" Lionel leaned down and put his face to Reese's. "Newsflash, Mr. Tall Dark and Fearsome, but _everyone_ suffers."

"You don't know how I feel," Reese chuckled without feeling.

"The hell I don't! I loved her too! She believed in me more than any person I've ever known. She almost got caught trying to save my ass because of your stupidity. But she never held it against me. She gave me another chance. As for you…you should be worshipping the ground she walked on for busting in and changing the DNA samples to save your sorry ass. Then again, maybe she should have just let Donnelly catch you and let you rot. Who knows, maybe things would have been better for everyone."

"Officer!" Reese called out. No answer. He tried again, louder. "Officer!"

Lionel's smirk was somewhere between looming and sinister. "No one is coming to save you. You're all alone."

Growling loudly, Reese launched himself off the bench and at Lionel. Grabbing him around the waist, he slammed Lionel into the steel bars.

"Son of a bitch!" Lionel shouted as his head crashed against the steel. Blinking momentarily, he tried to make the stars go away.

"I'm not alone!" Reese snarled menacingly. "Take it back!"

"The hell I will," Lionel shot back just as menacingly. "You walked away from everyone who cared for you because you think you failed. You abandoned people who love you because you had to have a one man pity party with a bottle in Colorado."

"Shut up!"

"I will not shut up." Lionel's bold blue eyes met those of Reese's.

"So help me, Lionel…"

Blood roared in his ears so loud, he couldn't see straight. Maybe that's why Lionel was just as surprised as the man who was holding him when Reese slammed back first into the solid brick wall.

"No, goddammit! I'm tired of putting up with your shit! I'm tired of you walking all over me and using my past to make me be at your beck and call at all hours of the day! I've trailed people for you, buried bodies, lied, and forged reports, and covered evidence to help you and Finch try to make a difference in the world. And what did it get me? A broken hand and a broken heart!"

"Lionel…"

He gripped the collar of Reese's shirt to point of choking. "I know you love her…hell, how couldn't you? And I know she loved you. Yeah, Mr. Pain in my Ass, she loved you. Why, I don't know, but she did."

Reese shook his head. "I don't believe you." He tried to blink back the hot tears that burned his eyes. He wasn't going to cry in front of Fusco. Not now. Not ever.

"The hell she didn't." Letting go with one hand, he made sure he kept his grip on the shirt collar, he reached into his coat pocket. "Here!" He slapped the picture against Reese's chest. Hard.

Letting go, Lionel stumbled back, panting with exhaustion. His body hurt, but not as much as his heart and soul. But it was a time for John to get some tough love in a heavy dose.

His eyes never leaving Lionel, Reese braced himself for a second attack. Then his eyes flicked down to the 3X5 piece of matte. Feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of him, he tried to look away from Jessica's smile.

"Joss had that in her desk. At first I didn't get it, I mean, why would she have a picture of you and another woman in her desk? Then it dawned on me that this is the reason Donnelly was after you, and Joss had to make that trip up to New Rochelle. That's the woman who started this whole mess, isn't it?"

Reese stayed quiet, but the twitch in his cheek said everything.

"So you threw your life away for this broad, and by some twisted chance of fate, Joss Carter walked in and offered you a second chance. Then she's killed – only she's trying to save you. And how do you repay her? You piss your life away."

Stoic, silent, and solid Reese remained, but that didn't stop the one solitary tear from breaking away to slide down his cheek. Lionel was too far past the point of no return to relish in the victory.

"You want to know why she kept that instead of turning it over as evidence? Because she loved you, you asshole! As for what you've done in her memory…pfft! I don't call that love." Lionel stepped forward. "Remember when you told me that if anything ever happened to her under my watch, you were coming for me next? How do you think I should repay you?"

"You'll just crawl back to that hole I dug you out of and go back to being a corrupt piece of garbage," Reese replied just harsh enough to have some sting.

"Fuck you." Lionel turned around and walked over to the door of the cell. He pounded on it. "Skip? I'm ready to go!" A few seconds later, the police officer arrived and opened the door.

"Did you get through to him?" Skip asked under his breath. His eyes darted to the broken man leaning against the wall with a photograph in his hand. He had seen many drunks come in and out of his small town jail, but this one broke his heart in a way he couldn't explain.

Lionel looked over his shoulder and gave a snort. "No."

"What do you want me to do?"

_Let him rot in hell_, was on the tip of the detective's tongue. "Let him stay long enough to sober up, then let him go."

"Where?"

"Hell if I know. Hell if I care. Can I have my keys?"

"Yeah."

As the pair's footsteps echoed then faded down the hall, Reese glanced at the picture. _Joss had saved this without telling me? Why?_ He tried to make sense of everything though the alcohol he consumed was still making things fuzzy.

"_Because she loved you, you asshole!"_

The strength which had been holding him up, suddenly left his body causing him to sink weakly to the floor. With his left index finger, he traced Jessica's face. "Jessie," he whispered as one tear broke free, to be followed by another, then another.

Closing his eyes, he pressed the photograph to his broken heart and felt what was left shatter to a million pieces.

"Joss," his voice cracked as he dissolved into soul cleansing sobs.

The End


End file.
